Research Briefing
By Isabel Buchanan
6 March 2024

Women in politics and public
life

Summary
1
Women in UK Parliament
2 Women in the UK Government
3 Women in other elected bodies in the UK
4 Parliamentary and political firsts for women in the UK
5 Women in politics: International context
6 Women in public life
7 Firsts for women in UK public life

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Number 01250

Women in politics and public life

Contributing Authors
Georgina Sturge, Female judges, 6.3;
Esme Kirk-Wade, Armed Forces, 6.4;
Carl Baker, National Health Service, 6.5;
Richard Cracknell, Schools, 6.6;
Paul Bolton, Higher Education, 6.6;
Grahame Allen, Police, 6.7
Image Credit©UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor
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2

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Contents
Summary

5

1

Women in UK Parliament

5

1.1

Members of Parliament since 1918

9

1.2

Candidates in general elections

11

1.3 Women from minority ethnic groups in the House of Commons

13

2

Women in the UK Government

14

3

Women in other elected bodies in the UK

17

3.1

Devolved legislatures and London Assembly

17

3.2

Women in local government

19

England

19

Wales

19

Scotland19

Northern Ireland

20

4

Parliamentary and political firsts for women in the UK

21

5

Women in politics: International context

23

5.1

Presidents and prime ministers

23

5.2

Overseas governments

23

5.3

Overseas parliaments

23

Speakers of national parliaments

23

Women in national parliaments

24

Entry of women into national parliaments

25

5.4

The European Parliament (European Union)

27

6

Women in public life

28

6.1

Women in public bodies

28

6.2

Women in the Civil Service

29

Trends from 1981 to 2022

29

3

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

6.3

Female judges

31

6.4

Women in the Armed Forces

33

6.5

Women in the National Health Service

35

6.6

Women in Education

36

Schools

36

Higher education

37

6.7

Women in the police

39

7Firsts for women in UK public life41

4

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Summary
In both politics and public life in the UK, women have historically been
underrepresented. In recent years, however, women’s representation has
increased, although in most cases men remain overrepresented, especially inmore senior positions.
This briefing presents statistics on a range of positions held by women in UK
politics and public life. Data on the demographic characteristics of different
workforces tends to be limited, so it is not always possible to include
intersectional analysis, for example, on disabled women or women fromminority ethnic groups.

UK Parliament and Government
In 2022, Liz Truss MP became Britain’s third female Prime Minister, following
Baroness Thatcher (1979-1990) and Theresa May MP (2016-2019).
Currently there are 226 female MPs in the House of Commons and 238 female
members of the House of Lords. In the Commons women make up 35% of MPs
and in the Lords 29%. Together, women make up 32% of members of theCommons and Lords.
After 1918 when women became eligible to be MPs, the number grew slowly
until a jump in 1997 when 120 women were elected. Since then, the number offemale MPs has continued to grow. Following the 2019 general election, 220
MPs were women. At 34%, this was an all-time high.
Between 1918 and 2023, there were 564 individual women elected to the Houseof Commons; 55% were first elected as Labour MPs and 31% as Conservative.
Seven ministers in the current Cabinet are women, representing 30%. The
highest proportion of women in Cabinet was 36% between 2006 and 2007.

Devolved legislatures and local government
Women make up 43% of Members of the Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament,
46% of the Scottish Parliament and 37% of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Around 41% of local authority councillors in England are women. In Northern
Ireland, around 26% of councillors are women, in Scotland it is 35% and in
Wales, 28%.
52% of members of the London Assembly are women.

5Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

International comparisons
In February 2024 there were 19 women serving as head of state and 15 serving
as head of government.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, with women making up 35% of
the House of Commons, the United Kingdom ranks 48th globally for the
proportion of women in the lower (or only) house of parliament. Rwanda,
Cuba and Nicaragua have the highest female representation.
The UK was the fourth country to elect women to Parliament, doing so in 1918,
the same year as Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The global average share of women in cabinet minister positions was 23% in
2023 according to the World Economic Forum, compared with 30% in the UK.
In the European Parliament, 41% of Members of the European Parliament(MEPs) elected in the 2019 elections were women. However, after the seatchanges due to Brexit, as of February 2020, 40% of MEPs were women.

Women in public life
The proportion of women in public sector roles has increased in the past
decades.
The most recent statistics, given in the chart below, show that 76% ofteachers in state-funded schools and 76% of NHS workers were women, as
were 55% of civil servants, 49% of public appointments, 42% of judges, 35%of police officers and 12% of the armed forces.

6

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Women in politics and public life

Female representation by sector
Most recent data, 2022-24

76%

76%
55%

Schools(state)NHS

Civil
service

49%

44%

42%

JudgesPublicHigherbodies education

35%

Police12%

Armed
Forces

Sources: Department for Education, School workforce in England: 2022; NHS Digital, NHS workforce
statistics, September 2023; GOV.UK, Civil service statistics, 2023; Commissioner for Public Appointments,
Annual report 2022-23, p24; HESA, Higher Education Staff Statistics: UK, 2022/23; Ministry of Justice, Diversityof the judiciary: 2023 statistics; Police workforce statistics 2023, England and Wales; Ministry of Defence, UK
armed forces biannual diversity statistics: April 2023.

7

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Women in politics and public life

1

Women in UK Parliament

Currently, there are 226 female MPs in the House of Commons and 238 in theHouse of Lords. This means that 32% of all parliamentarians are women. 1

There are more men than women in both Houses of Parliament
Members by sex, as of March 2024
each circle represents five Members
Male
FemaleHouse of Lords

House of Commons

Source: Members Names Information Service (accessed 1 March 2024)

226 women MPs is the highest number in history. This represents 35% of allMPs.
At the 2019 General Election, 220 women were elected, which was then thehighest number of women to sit in the House of Commons. This was up from208 women at the 2017 General Election, and 191 in 2015. 2
Half of Labour MPs elected in 2019 were women, compared with a quarter ofConservative MPs, just under two thirds of Liberal Democrats and a third of
SNP MPs. 3
Women were admitted to the House of Lords following the Life Peerages Act
1958, 40 years after they were able to stand for the House of Commons.

1
2

3

8

Members Names Information Service, accessed 28 February 2024
Since 220 women were elected in 2019, twelve female MPs have been elected in by-elections and six
have left their positions.
House of Commons Briefing Paper (6652): Women Members of Parliament; Library Briefing Paper,
General Election 2019: full results and analysis

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Baroness Barbara Wootton of Abinger was one of the first four life peers to beapproved for admission to the House. Baroness Swanborough was the firstwoman to take her seat in the House of Lords as a life peer in 1958. Baroness
Strange of Knokin was the first woman to take her seat by virtue of being ahereditary peer, in 1963. 4
238 of the 813 current Members of the House of Lords are women, making up
29%. 5

1.1

Members of Parliament since 1918
Since first being permitted to stand for election in 1918, 564 different women
have been elected as MPs. 6
Countess Constance Markievicz was elected to represent Dublin St Patricks in
1918, but as a member of Sinn Féin she did not take her seat. The next year
Nancy Astor became the first woman to sit in the Commons after winning aby-election in Plymouth Sutton for the Conservatives.
Harriet Harman holds the record for the woman with the longest continuous
service as an MP, having served for over 39 years since the October 1982
Peckham by-election. Previously Gwyneth Dunwoody had the longest
continuous service as a female MP. She was elected in 1974 and served forthirty-four years until her death in April 2008, 7
Of the 564 women ever elected, 312 (55%) were first elected as Labour and 174(31%) as Conservative MPs. Since 1918, 4,752 male MPs have been elected toparliament. A full breakdown of women MPs is in the table below.

4
5
6

7

9

House of Lords, Library Note, Women in the House of Lords
Members Names Information Service, accessed 1 March 2024.
House of Commons Library, Female Members of Parliament, 20 February 2024. All women aged 21
and over were permitted to stand for officeSince Gwyneth Dunwoody was also an MP between 1966 and 1970, she served for thirty-eight years
in total.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Female MPs elected by party, 1918-2024
Number % of all women

Party
Labour312

55.3

Conservative

174

30.9

Liberal Democrat*

34

6.0

SNP

27

4.8

Sinn Féin

4

0.7

DUP

3

0.5

Ulster Unionists

3

0.5

SDLP

2

0.4

Alliance

1

0.2

Green

1

0.2

Independent1

0.2

Independent Unity1

0.2

Plaid Cymru

1

0.2

564

100.0

Total

Note: (*) Includes those from predecessor parties.

Sources: House of Commons briefing Female Members of Parliament, 20 February 2024;
UK Parliament website, Members of the House of Commons (accessed 5 March 2024)
Note: * includes predecessor parties

The chart below shows the number of women elected at general elections
since 1918, by party.

Female MPs elected at general elections, by party
1918-2019
Con

250

Lab

LD

Other

1997

2010

2019

200
150
100
50
0
1918

1924

1935

1951

1964 1974 (F) 1983

Source: Rallings and Thrasher, British Electoral Facts 1832-2006, 2012; House of Commons Library
Briefing Papers (10/36) General Election 2010; (7186) General Election 2015; (7979) General Election
2017; (8749) General Election 2019.

Until 1997, women had never made up more than 10% of all MPs, and until thelate 1980s the proportion had always been below 5%. The proportion rose to10

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

18% following the 1997 General Election when 120 women were elected. The
current level, 35%, is the highest ever.

1.2

Candidates in general elections
The number of female candidates has risen at almost every general election
since 1966. The exceptions were 2001, and 2017. In 2017, however, theproportion of female candidates rose from 26% to 29% as there were fewer
candidates overall.
In 2019, there were 1,123 female candidates which was the highest number
and proportion on record (33.8% of all candidates).
The charts below show that the number of women standing for election has
increased since 1979.

Female candidates at general elections by party
1,200

Con

Lab

LD

Other

1,000
800
600
400
200
0
1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019

Sources: Rallings and Thrasher, British Electoral Facts 1832-2006, 2012.House of Commons Library
Briefing Papers (10/36) General Election 2010; (7186) General Election 2015; (7979) General Election
2017; (8749) General Election 2019.

The proportion of all female candidates that parties field has also increased,
as shown in the chart below.
The Labour Party has had more female candidates, proportionally, than otherparties since 1997, when it introduced all-women shortlists. Before this date,the Liberals/Liberal Democrats had usually had the highest proportion of
female candidates.

11

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Women as a percentage of all candidates at generalelections by party
Con

60%

Lab

LD

All

40%

20%

0%
1918

1924

1935

1951

1964

1974 1983 1997 2010 2019
(F)
Sources: Rallings and Thrasher, British Electoral Facts 1832-2006,
2012.House of Commons Library
Briefing Papers (10/36) General Election 2010; (7186) General Election 2015; (7979) General Election
2017; (8749) General Election 2019.

Women were first able to stand for Parliament in 1918. 17 did so at the 1918
General Election when there was one female Conservative candidate, fourLabour, four Liberals and eight for other parties.
Women did not make up more than 10% of candidates until 1979, when 11% of
candidates were female. In 2005 the proportion of women reached 20% for
the first time.
Further analysis of female candidates, including of the difference between thenumber of candidates and the proportion of elected MPs, is available in
Library Insight House of Commons trends: How many women candidates
become MPs?.

The 2019 General Election
In 2019, there were 1,121 female candidates standing across all parties, 34%of the total 3,320 candidates. This figure represents both the highest
proportion on record, as well as the largest total number of womencandidates in a general election.
Labour had 335 female candidates, the highest number of any major party ina general election. For the first time ever for any major party in a generalelection, the majority (53%) of Labour’s candidates were women, comparedwith 41% in 2017 and 34% in 2015.
There were 194 female Conservative candidates (31%), an increase of two
percentage points from 2017 and the highest number in the party’s history.
The Liberal Democrats had 186 female candidates, making up 30%.

12Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

41% of Green Party candidates were women, as were 34% of Scottish National
Party and 25% of Plaid Cymru candidates. Women made up 18% of Brexit
party candidates. 8

1.3

Women from minority ethnic groups in theHouse of Commons
The chart below shows the number of MPs from minority ethnic groups bygender and party elected at the last general election according to data
published by Operation Black Vote. 9

MPs from minority ethnic groups
In 2019, by gender and party
All

Lab

Female29

FemaleMale

29
12Female

6

Con

LD

37

Male

Male
2
0

17

FemaleMale

Source: Operation Black Vote, House of Commons Library analysis

Before 2010, Oona King, Diane Abbott and Dawn Butler had been the only
female MPs from any minority ethnic background. 10 The first women of Asian
heritage were elected in 2010. 11
Following the 2019 General Election, 37 women from minority ethnic groups
were elected to the House of Commons. This is 5.7% of all MPs, 16.8% of the
220 female MPs, and more than half (56.9%) of all MPs from a minority ethnic
group. 12

8

9
10

11
12

13

Rallings and Thrasher, British Electoral Facts 1832-2006, 2012. House of Commons Briefing Papers(10/36) General Election 2010; (7186) General Election 2015; (7979) General Election 2017; (8749)
General Election 2019.
Operation Black Vote, MPs and MSPs
According to analysis from Operation Black Vote. Official statistics on ethnicity are not collected
and ethnicity is a self-defined characteristic.
Bdnews24, UK gets its first Bengali MP, The Times of India, Priti Patel is UK’s first Gujarati woman MP
Library Briefing Paper 1156, Ethnic diversity in politics and public life

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life2

Women in the UK Government

In February 2024, seven of the 23 Cabinet posts were filled by women (30%). 13
In addition, there are nine ministers who attend Cabinet without being full
members. Of these, three are women. Altogether, ten out of the 32 ministers
who may attend Cabinet are women (31%). 14
Liz Truss MP became Britain’s third female Prime Minister in 2022, following
Baroness Thatcher (1979-1990) and Theresa May MP (2016-2019). 15
Rishi Sunak appointed six female full Cabinet ministers following his firstcabinet reshuffle in February 2023, two of whom were newly appointed toCabinet. Rishi Sunak carried out his second cabinet reshuffle during his timeas Prime Minister in November 2023, when he appointed seven female full
Cabinet ministers, two of whom were newly appointed to Cabinet.
Liz Truss appointed seven women to her Cabinet during her premiership inAutumn 2022. Her predecessor, Boris Johnson appointed nine women to the
Cabinet in total. When he took office in July 2019, he appointed five women to
the Cabinet.
In March 2019, Theresa May’s Cabinet included five women (including thePrime Minister). On taking office in 2010, David Cameron appointed four
women to the Cabinet. He appointed 10 women to the Cabinet throughout his
time in office.
Gordon Brown appointed five women to his first cabinet in 2007 and six in
total. There were five women in Tony Blair’s 1997 Cabinet, which was also thefirst to include more than two female ministers at one time. The highest
number of concurrent female cabinet ministers was eight (36%), from May
2006 to May 2007.

13

14
15

14

The term ‘full Cabinet post’ refers to the 21 paid Cabinet Ministers as set out in the Ministerial andOther Salaries Act 1975. More information on this can be found in the research briefing Limitations
on the number of Ministers
GOV.uk, Ministers, accessed 1 March 2024
GOV.uk, Past Prime Ministers

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

The table below shows the 57 women who have ever been appointed to full
Cabinet posts (as of February 2024). The first was Margaret Bondfield in 1929.
She was also the first female minister outside the Cabinet.

Female Cabinet Ministers
MinisterYears of service

MinisterYears of service

Margaret Bondfield

1929-31

Cheryl Gillan

2010-12

Ellen Wilkinson

1945-47

Baroness Warsi

2010-12Florence Horsbrugh1953-54

Theresa May

2010-19

Barbara Castle

1964-70 & 1974-76

Justine Greening

2011-18

Judith Hart

1968-69

Maria Miller

2012-14Margaret Thatcher

1970-74 & 1979-90

Theresa Villiers

2012-16 & 2019-20

Shirley Williams

1974-79

Elizabeth Truss2014-17 & 2019-

Baroness Young

1981-83

Nicky Morgan

2014-16 & 2019-20

Gillian Shephard

1992-97

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

2015-16

Virginia Bottomley

1992-97

Amber Rudd

2015-2018 & 2018-19

Ann Taylor

1997-98

Andrea Leadsom

2016-17 & 2019-20

Harriet Harman

1997-98 & 2007-10

Karen Bradley2016-19

Mo Mowlam

1997-2001

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

2016-2022

Clare Short

1997-2003

Priti Patel

2016-17 & 2019-2022

Margaret Beckett

1997-2007

Penny Mordaunt2017-19 & 2022-

Baroness Jay of Paddington

1998-2001

Esther McVey

2018-18

Helen Liddell

2001-03

Thérèse Coffey

2019-23

Estelle Morris

2001-02

Anne-Marie Trevelyan

2020-20 & 2021-22

Hilary Armstrong

2001-07

Amanda Milling

2020-2021

Patricia Hewitt

2001-07

Nadine Dorries

2021-2022

Tessa Jowell2001-07 & 2009-10

Michelle Donelan

2022 & 2022-

Baroness Amos

2003-07

Suella Braverman

2022 & 2022-23

Ruth Kelly

2004-08

Kemi Badenoch

2022-

Jacqui Smith

2006-09

Chloe Smith

2022-22

Hazel Blears

2006-09

Gillian Keegan

2022-

Baroness Ashton of Upholland

2007-08

Lucy Frazer

2023-

Yvette Cooper

2008-10Claire Coutinho

2023-

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

2008-10

Victoria Atkins

2023-

Caroline Spelman

2010-12

Note: Does not include those who attended Cabinet without holding a full cabinet post.
Sources: Gov.uk, Ministers, accessed 5 March 2024,House of Commons Library; Mortimore and Blick (Eds), Butler’s British Political Facts,
2018

15

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Women in politics and public life

The following chart shows the number of women in full Cabinet posts at the
beginning of each calendar year since 1960. There were three women in total
who held Cabinet positions before 1960.

Women Cabinet Ministers at the start of each calendar year
20
15
10
5
0
1961

1971

1981

1991

2001

2011

2021

Notes: Does not include those who attended Cabinet without holding a full cabinet post.
Data at 1 Jan each year.
Sources: Gov.uk, Ministers, accessed 5 March 2024, House of Commons Library, Members Names’
Information Service; Mortimore and Blick (Eds), Butler’s British political Facts, 2018

The highest number of women in the Cabinet on the first day of the year waseight (2007 and 2017). There have only been two years since 1964 when no
Cabinet Minister positions were filled by women, 1991 and 1992.

16

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Women in politics and public life

3

Women in other elected bodies in the UK

3.1

Devolved legislatures and London Assembly
The proportion of female members of the UK’s devolved legislatures and theLondon Assembly has risen over time. After the most recent elections in 2021,
the London Assembly has the highest proportion of female members, at 52%.
The then Welsh Assembly (now Senedd Cymru) is the only other chamber tohave had 50% or more female members, when exactly half of members werefemale after the 2002 elections. The Senedd has had the most consistently
high female membership; never lower than 40% since its foundation in 1999.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has had the greatest increase in female
representation, rising from 13% in 1998 to 36% in 2022.
All devolved legislatures had a greater proportion of women elected at theirmost recent election than in the House of Commons. 16
The chart below shows female members of the devolved legislatures following
an election since 1997.

16

17

House of Commons Library: UK Election Statistics: 1918-2022: A century of elections; Northern
Ireland Elections 2022.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Female membership of parliaments and assemblies over time
Following elections
60%
London Assembly

Numerical gender equality

50%

Senedd Cymru

40%

Northern Ireland Assembly
Scottish Parliament
House of Commons

30%

20%

10%

0%
1997

2002

2007

2012

2017

2022

Sources: House of Commons Library: UK Election Statistics: 1918-2022: A century of elections; Northern Ireland Elections 2022.

The chart below shows the proportion of women elected to the UK
parliaments and assemblies by party, as of March 2023. The Conservative
Party has the lowest proportion of women in all elected bodies included in thetable and the Liberal Democrats the highest, except for in the Scottish
Parliament, where the Liberal Democrats have the lowest proportion and the
SNP the highest.

Women in UK elected bodies
Proportion of members who are female, by party
Northern
Party
Conservative

House of

ScottishWelsh

LondonCommons

Parliament

Parliament

Assembly

29%

19%

22%

25%

Labour52%

Liberal Democrat
Plaid Cymru/SNP
Other

Total

45%

64%

57%

25%

100%

53%

36%
24%

63%

35%

46%

38%
0%

IrelandParty
Sinn Féin
64%

DUP

100%

Alliance

-

UUP
67%

43%

Assembly

52%

56%
28%
47%
0%

SDLP

25%

Other

25%
37%

Sources: House of Commons: Members’ Names Information Service, Scottish Parliament: Current and previous Members of the Scottish
Parliament, Senedd Cymru: Find a Member of the Senedd, Northern Ireland Assembly: MLA Search, London Assembly: Assembly Members

18

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Women in politics and public life

3.2

Women in local government
England
The table below gives Local Government Association figures showing that
41% of local authority councillors in England were women in 2022 and theGreen Party had the highest percentage. 17

Councillors in England
Gender make-up by party when last elected, 2022
Female

Male

Total

Conservative

32%

68%

5,902

Labour

52%

48%

5,005

Liberal Democrat

40%

60%

2,742

Independent

34%

66%

1,486

Green

53%

47%

654

Other

47%

53%

397

Total

41%

59%

16,185Party

Source: Local Government Association, National census of local authority councillors 2022, 17 June 2022

Wales
Following the 2022 council elections, 36% of councillors in Wales werefemale.18 In 2018, women held 28% of seats in Wales, up from 26% in 2012. 19

ScotlandAccording to research published in The Herald newspaper, 35% of councillors
in Scotland were women following the 2022 local elections. 20 This study did
not provide a breakdown of the data by party.
29% of councillors elected in 2017 were women. Data for this year was broken
down by party:

17
18
19
20

19

Local Government Association, National census of local authority councillors 2022, 17 June 2022
BBC, Election 2022: Welsh politics needs more women, new councillor says
Data provided by the Welsh Local Government Association. Party breakdowns were not provided.
The Herald, Scotland's councils set to be dominated by men until 2037

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Councillors in Scotland
Gender make-up by party, 2017
Party

Female

Male

Total

Scottish National Party

39%

61%

431

Conservative

18%

82%

276

Labour

28%

72%

262

Independent/Other

18%

82%

172

Liberal Democrat

34%

66%

67

Green

47%

53%

19

Total

29%

71%

1,227

Source: The Scottish Parliament, Local Government Elections 2017; further analysis by Hugh Bochel for
the Electoral Commission (unpublished).

Northern Ireland
Following the most recent local elections in 2019, 26% of councillors inNorthern Ireland were women and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland had
the highest percentage with 40% of female councillors, as shown in the tablebelow. 21

Councillors in Northern Ireland
Gender make-up by party, 2019
Party

Female

Male

Total

Democratic Unionist Party

19%

81%

122

Sinn Féin

35%

65%

105

Ulster Unionist Party

19%

81%

75

Social Democratic and Labour Party

36%

64%

59

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

40%

60%

53

Green Party

25%

75%

8

Traditional Unionist Voice

0%

100%

6

Independents/Other

12%

88%

34

Total

26%

74%

462

Source: Yvonne Galligan (Technological University Dublin), The Northern Ireland local elections May
2019 – a gender analysis, Slugger O’Toole blog, 21 May 201921

20

Data provided by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

4

Parliamentary and political firsts for
women in the UK

The timeline below sets out significant firsts for women in UK politics. 22
1907

Qualification of Women (County and Borough Councils) Act allowing
women to be county and borough councillors – many stood in 1 Nov
elections

1908

First Elected mayor in England (Elizabeth Garrett Anderson)

1918

First women able to stand for Parliament and those over 30 who met
minimum property qualifications given the right to vote

1918

First MP elected (Countess Constance de Markievicz)

1919

First Member of Parliament to take seat (Nancy Astor)

1924

First Minister (Margaret Bondfield)

1928

Vote given to women on same terms as men

1929

First Cabinet minister and privy counsellor (Margaret Bondfield)

1948

First Chair of Committee of Whole House (Florence Paton)

1958

Life Peerages Act; first female life peers to take seats (Baroness
Swanborough, Baroness Wootton)

1963

First hereditary peer to take seat in House of Lords (Baroness Strangeof Knokin)

1964

First Parliamentary Whip (Commons) (Harriet Slater)

1965

First Parliamentary Whip (Lords) (Baroness Phillips)

1967

First Deputy Speaker (Lords) (Baroness Wootton)

1970

First Deputy Speaker (Commons) (Betty Harvie Anderson)

1975

First Leader of the Opposition (Margaret Thatcher)

1976

First openly lesbian MP (Maureen Colquhoun)

1979

First Prime Minister (Margaret Thatcher)

1981

First Leader of the House of Lords (Baroness Young)22

Central Office of Information, Women in Britain, 1996; Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics;
House of Commons Library analysis.

21

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

1981

First woman to co-found a major political party (Shirley Williams)

1987

First Black female MP (Diane Abbott)

1992

First Speaker of the House of Commons (Betty Boothroyd)1992

Minister with special responsibility for women’s issues (Gillian
Shephard)

1997

First Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mo Mowlam)

1997

First Leader of the House of Commons (Ann Taylor)

1997

Full-time Minister for Women (Joan Ruddock)

1998

First Chief Whip (Ann Taylor)

2001

First Secretary of State for Scotland (Helen Liddell)2006 First Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs(Margaret Beckett)2006 First House of Lords Lord Speaker (Baroness Hayman)2007 First Secretary of State for Home Affairs (Jacqui Smith)2007 First Attorney-General (Baroness Scotland)2008 First Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Yvette Cooper)
2008 First Serjeant at Arms (Jill Pay)
2008 First UK EU Commissioner and later (2009) first EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy (Baroness Ashton)
2010

First Secretary of State for Wales (Cheryl Gillan)

2010

First female MPs of Asian descent elected in Westminster

2014

First First Minister of Scotland (Nicola Sturgeon)

2015

Creation of the Women’s Equality Party

2016

First Lord Chancellor (Liz Truss)

2016

First Minister of Northern Ireland (Arlene Foster)

2017

First Black Rod (Sarah Clarke)

2017

First female Sikh MP (Preet Gill)

2019

First Clerk Assistant (Sarah Davies)

2021

First Metro Mayor (Tracy Brabin)

2021

First woman from a minority ethnic group to be a member of the
Welsh Parliament (Natasha Asghar)

2022

First woman to preside over an Accession Council (Penny Mordaunt)

22

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Women in politics and public life

5

Women in politics: International context

Female representation in parliaments and governments varies drastically bycountry. This section covers female Heads of State and Government,
ministers, speakers, and members of parliament across the world.

5.1

Presidents and prime ministers
In February 2024, there were 19 women serving as Head of State and 15
serving as Head of Government. 23 In comparison, in 2005, there were only
eight female national leaders. 24
The first non-hereditary female national leader was Sirimavo Bandaranaike,elected Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1960. Globally, women
were elected to these positions infrequently until the 1990s.
By February 2019, 70 countries (just over a third of all) had had at least one
female president or prime minister. A small number of countries have had
several. Sri Lanka was the first country to have a female president and prime
minister at the same time (1994-2005). 25

5.2

Overseas governments
In 2023, the global average share of women cabinet minister positions was
23%. In the UK, 30% of cabinet ministers were women. 26

5.3

Overseas parliaments
Speakers of national parliaments
As of February 2024, there were 269 filled posts of Presiding Officers of
Parliament (also known as speakers) or of one of its Houses worldwide. Of
these speakers, 63 (23%) were women. Both the upper and lower Houses were
23

24
25
26

23

United Nations, Heads of State; Heads of Government (PDF), 22 February 2024; Reuters, Women
leaders of the world, 26 January 2021
Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in politics: 2017, 15 March 2017.
House of Commons Library consolidated analysis.
Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in Politics: 2023, 7 March 2023

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

presided over by women in Belgium, Belize, the Bahamas, Germany, Mexicoand the United States. 27
In 1927 Austria became the first country to elect a woman to the presidency ofa parliamentary chamber; the next was Denmark in 1950. The UK became the27th country to achieve this when Betty Boothroyd was elected Speaker of theHouse of Commons in 1992.

Women in national parliaments
The UK is ranked 48th in the proportion of women in a country’s lower or only
house (as of February 2024).
Rwanda is ranked first, with over 61% of positions held by women. Cuba,
Nicaragua and Mexico also have a majority of female members, and exactly
half the parliaments of Andorra and the United Arab Emirates, which have
only one house, are made up of women. Oman, Tuvalu and Yemen have no
women in their lower or only house, while 23 countries have fewer than 10%. 28
The following table shows the top 50 countries by proportions of women in thelower or only house of Parliament.

27
28

24

Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women Speakers of national parliaments (accessed 1 March 2024).
Inter-Parliamentary Union New Parline (accessed 1 March 2024).

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Women in politics and public life

Women in national parliaments
Top 50 countries by membership of lower or only House (February 2024)
Rank Country%

Rank Country%

1

Rwanda61.3

26

Austria

41.0

2

Cuba

55.7

27

Republic of Moldova

40.8

3

Nicaragua

53.9

28

Belarus

40.0

4

Mexico50.4

29

Guyana39.4

5

Andorra50.0

30

Cabo Verde

38.9

“

United Arab Emirates

50.0

31

Netherlands

38.7

7

Iceland47.6

32

Angola38.6

8

Costa Rica

47.4

33

Peru

38.5

9

Sweden46.7“

Switzerland

38.5

10

Bolivia (Plurinational State of)

46.2

“

Timor-Leste

38.5

11

Senegal46.1

36

Burundi38.2

12

Finland46.0

37

Australia

38.0

13

Monaco45.8“

Serbia38.0“

South Africa

45.8

39

Slovenia

37.8

15

New Zealand

45.5

40

Dominica

37.5

16

Denmark

45.3

41

United Republic of Tanzania

37.4

17

Norway44.4

42France

37.3

18

Spain

44.3

43

Armenia

36.5

19

Namibia

44.2“

Portugal

36.5

20

Mozambique

43.2

45

Albania

35.7

21

Ecuador

43.1

46

Chile

35.5

22

Belgium

42.7

47Germany

35.3

23North Macedonia

42.5

48

United Kingdom

34.7

24

Argentina

42.4

49

Uzbekistan

34.6

25

Ethiopia

41.3

50

Cameroon

33.9

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union New Parline, updated 1 February 2024

Not all countries have an upper house of Parliament. As of February 2024,
Canada, Bolivia, Mexico, Australia, and Zimbabwe had 50% or more womenin their upper house.

Entry of women into national parliaments
Finland was the first country to have women sit in a national parliament; 19
women were elected in 1907, the first election after suffrage was extended to25

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

women in 1906. These women made up 9.5% of the elected members, a level
the UK had still not reached in 1992. 29
The table below shows a timeline of the first women in national parliaments.
The United Kingdom was the fourth country to elect women to parliament, in
1918, the same year as Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands.

First women in national parliaments
First 50 by year of election or entry
Rank Country

Year

Rank Country

Year

1

Finland

1907

26

Cuba

1940

2

Norway1911

27

Philippines

1941

3

USA

1917

28

Dominican Republic

1942

4

Denmark

1918=

Uruguay

1942=

Ireland

1918

30

Australia

1943=

Netherlands

1918

31

Albania

1945=

United Kingdom

1918

=

Bulgaria

1945

8

Austria

1919=

France1945=

Germany

1919=

Hungary1945=

Luxembourg

1919

35

Italy

1946

=

Poland

1919

=

Japan

1946

12

Estonia

1920=

Panama1946=

Lithuania

1920=

Romania

1946

14

Belgium

1921

39

Burma

1947

=

Canada

1921=

Pakistan

1947=

Sweden

1921=

Sri Lanka

1947

17

Iceland1922=

Thailand1947=

Russia1922

43

North Korea

1948

19

Latvia1930=

South Korea

1948

20

Spain

1931

=

Venezuela

1948

21

Brazil1933

46

Israel1949=

New Zealand

1933

47

Indonesia

1950=

South Africa

1933

48

Argentina

1951

24

Portugal

1934

=

Chile

1951

25

Turkey1939

50

Mongolia

1951

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union New Parline (accessed 8 February 2022).

The most recent country to allow women to be elected to the national
parliament was Qatar, in 2017. However, no women were elected there in the2021 elections. Before then, Kuwait elected women parliamentarians for the
first time in 2008. In Saudi Arabia, parliamentarians are appointed by the29

26

University of Helsinki, Centenary of women’s full political rights in Finland.

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

King rather than elected, and the first women were appointed in 2013.
Currently, 20% of the Conservative Assembly in Saudi Arabia are female. 30

5.4

The European Parliament (European Union)
The proportion of female MEPs (Members of the European Parliament)
increased from 16% to 41% from 1979 to 2019. This figure has declined slightly
to 40% after the 73 seats held by UK MEPs were vacated when the UK left the
EU in 2020. Since then, only 27 of these seats have been redistributed to otherMember States.31 As of the 2019 EU election, female representation acrossMember States varied from 0% in Cyprus to 55% in Sweden. 32

30

31
32

27

Inter-Parliamentary Union New Parline (accessed 8 February 2022), IPU Welcomes appointment offour women to Qatar’s Parliament 13 November 2017 (accessed 12 February 2022)
European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament from February 2020 (PDF)
European Parliament, 2019 European election results, MEPs' gender balanceCommons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

6

Women in public life

This section covers women working in the public sector. Information on
women in employment more generally, including women on boards of
directors of companies, is included in Library briefing on Women and theEconomy.
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 permitted women to enter
professions such as the law, veterinary medicine and the Civil Service. The Act
also allowed women to enter any royal chartered society and ensured that nouniversity could refuse entry to women.

6.1

Women in public bodies
Government ministers appoint people to the boards of public bodies. In 1983,
17% of appointees were women.33 The last Labour Government’s target wasfor an even balance of men and women on such boards. 34 As the chart below
shows, this was not achieved.

Women appointed to public bodies
Current appointees on 31 March, 1989 - 2023, %
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1989

1993

1997

2001

2005

2009

2013

2017

2021

Note: data from 2014/15 onwards is taken from the Commissioner for Public Appointments Annual
report. This may not be comparable to data from the Public Bodies reports used for prior years.
Source: Cabinet office, Public appointments data report 2020/21, 21 October 2021; Cabinet Office, Public
Bodies, various years; Commissioner for Public Appointments, Annual report 2022-23, p24

33
34

28

Equal Opportunities Commission, Women and Men in Britain a statistical profile, 1985
Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2002

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Women in politics and public life

The proportion of women holding positions on the boards of public bodies
increased gradually from 22% in 1989 to 38% in 2004, it then fluctuatedbefore reaching a high of 51% in 2019/20. The most recent data is for 2022/23,
showing that in March 2023, 48.9% of serving public appointees were women;
this was an increase on 2021/22 and the second highest rate recorded.35

6.2

Women in the Civil Service
In 1914, the 53,900 women employed in the UK Civil Service represented 21%of the total. Following the First World War, the presence of women in the Civil
Service increased dramatically. By 1919, 235,500 permanent staff were
women.36 However, as men returned from military service the proportion fell.
In 1928 and 1938, women accounted for 25% and 27% of total Civil Service
employees, respectively. 37 A contributing factor to these low figures was the
exclusion of women from jobs that involved dealing with ‘foreigners’ (theForeign Office) and officers (the defence ministries), and jobs concerned withanimal breeding (agriculture) or sexual offences (law). 38
Until 1946, the UK Civil Service operated a “marriage bar”, which forced
women to leave their posts when they got married. Although the 1919 Sex
Disqualification (Removal) Act appeared to disallow such discrimination, thiswas not applied to the Civil Service: in 1921, an Order in Council limited posts
to women who were either unmarried or widows. The Treasury justified thisposition by arguing, somewhat paradoxically, that a woman’s right to not bedisqualified from holding these posts did not entail an entitlement to hold theposts. 39

Trends from 1981 to 2023
The chart below shows the proportion of full-time, part-time and Senior Civil
Service grade positions held by women between 1981 and 2022. In 2023, morethan half (54.6%) of all Civil Service employees (based on headcounts) were
women. Women have tended to make up approximately 45% of full-time
positions since 2010 (49% in 2023). In 1981, an overwhelming proportion ofpart-time civil servants were women (95.6%). This has gradually decreased
to 79% in 2023.
The proportion of senior grade roles occupied by women increased to 47% in
2021 but decreased to 44% in 2023. Since 2010, this has been measured by

35
36

37
38

39

29

Commissioner for Public Appointments, Annual report 2022-23
Meta Zimmick, “Strategies and Stratagems for the Employment of Women in the British Civil Service,
1919- 1939”, The Historical Journal, 27:4, December 1984, p912
As above, p912
Rodney Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, Routledge,
2011, pp75-76.
As above.

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Women in politics and public life

headcount, so the figures before and after are not directly comparable. This
is indicated by the dashed line.

Proportion of civil service jobs held by women, by type1981-2023, %100
Part time
75

50

Full time

Senior grades(headcount)

25
Senior grades(FTE)

01981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021

Source: GOV.UK, Civil service statistics, 2018-2023; ONS, Civil service statistics, 2006 – 2017; The
National Archives, Civil service statistics, 1981-2005.
Notes: Before 2010, Senior grades were measured by full time equivalents (FTE).

In 1950, 8% of what was then called the “administrative class” – today’s
Senior Civil Service plus principals and assistant principals – were women. In
1971, the Kemp-Jones Committee made recommendations to help womenreach the higher echelons of the Civil Service.
Although the number of women in senior roles did subsequently increase,progress was relatively slow until the 1990s and particularly the 21st century,
when the proportion of female senior civil servants increased markedly,
reaching 33% in 2009 (on full-time or equivalent basis). The proportion of
women in senior roles increased every year from 2009 until the drop in 2022.
The first female Permanent Secretary, Evelyn Sharp, was appointed in 1955.
The number of grade 1 permanent secretaries had reached two in 1993. 40
Research by the Institute for Government shows that in October 2022, six ofthe 16 (37.5%) permanent secretaries were women. 41

40

41

30

Rodney Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, Routledge,
2011,p21
Institute for Government, Permanent secretaries, accessed February 2023

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Women in politics and public life

6.3

Female judges
Although all judicial offices have been open to women since 1919, it was not
until 1945 that the first female judge, Sybil Campbell, was appointed inEngland.
As of 1 April 2023, 42% of judges in England and Wales were women. 42 The
proportion of female judges was higher in Tribunals (52%) than in the Courts(37%).
The chart below shows the proportion of court judges who have been womenfrom 2001 to 2023.
Proportion of court judges that are womenCourt judges in England and Wales, 2001-23
Numerical equality

50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

2017

2019

2021

2023

Sources: Ministry of Justice, Diversity of the judiciary: 2023 statistics; Courts and Tribunals Judiciary,
diversity statistics, various years

42

31

Ministry of Justice, Diversity of the judiciary: 2023 statistics, table 3.1

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Women in politics and public life

Female representation also differs by type of judge. The table below shows
the proportion of female judges in post during 2022, by type of judge.

Proportion of judges who are women, by primary appointment
England and Wales; 1 April 2023
Location

Primary appointment% womenCourtsHeads of Division*
Court of Appeal Judges
High Court Judges
Deputy High Court Judges
Judge Advocates, Deputy Judge Advocates*
Masters, Registrars, Costs Judges
Deputy Masters, Deputy Registrars, Deputy Costs Judges
Circuit Judges
RecordersDistrict Judges (County Courts)
Deputy District Judges (County Courts)
District Judges (Magistrates' Courts)
Deputy District Judges (Magistrates' Courts)
All court judges

20%
32%
30%
25%
0%
38%
28%
36%
28%
45%
45%
38%
42%
37%

Tribunals

Presidents, Chamber Presidents, Deputy and Vice Presidents
Upper Tribunal Judge
Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge
Tribunal Judge (Salaried)
Tribunal Judge (Fee-paid)
Regional, Deputy Regional Tribunal Judge
Circuit Judges*
Employment Judge (Salaried)
Employment Judge (Fee-paid)
Regional Employment Judge
All tribunal judges

53%
37%
42%
54%
55%
37%
0%
46%
50%
25%
52%

All judges (courts + tribunals)

42%

Source: Ministry of Justice, Diversity of the judiciary: 2023 statistics, table 3.1
Note: * In these cases there were 6 or fewer judges in this appointment in total.

There is typically a smaller proportion of women at the higher levels of the
judiciary. Of the 12 current Justices of the Supreme Court, the highest position
held, one is a woman: Lady Justice Rose. 43 Dame Rose is the fourth female
justice of the Supreme Court, replacing Lady Justice Black in 2021. 44 BaronessHale of Richmond was the first female judge of the Supreme Court andbecame the first woman to become President of Supreme Court in October
2017. 45
The first female Lord of Appeal (Baroness Hale) was not appointed until 2004,
and only one woman led a judicial division between 2001 and 2005.

43
44
45

32

The Supreme Court, Biographies of the justices, accessed 1 March 2023
The Supreme Court, Former Justices - The Supreme Court, accessed 1 March 2023
The Supreme Court, Lady Hale appointed next President of Supreme Court, alongside three new
Justices, 21 July 2017

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Dame Sue Carr became the first woman to hold the office of President of the
Courts of England and Wales and Head of the Judiciary of England and Walesin October 2023. This gave her the title of Lady Chief Justice of England andWales. 46

6.4

Women in the armed forces
Until 2016, the UK armed forces were permitted to discriminate on gendergrounds in their employment decisions. There was an exemption from the
Equality Act 2010 for reasons of combat effectiveness, and restrictions on
women serving in close-combat roles. 47
Women were excluded from ground close combat (GCC) roles. These include
the Infantry, Royal Marines, Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps,
and Royal Air Force Regiment. 48
After a 2016 review by the Ministry of Defence, the then Prime Minister, David
Cameron, lifted the ban on women serving in GCC roles. The Royal Armoured
Corps were the first to allow women to serve in certain GCC roles from
November 2016. 49
The table below shows that 11.5% of armed forces personnel were women in
April 2023. The Royal Air Force had the highest proportion of women (15.6%).

46
47
48
49

33

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, Dame Sue Carr sworn in as Lady Chief Justice, 2 October 2023
GOV.UK, Women in Combat: Policy Paper, 1 November 2010
As above
Ministry of Defence, Ban on women in ground close combat lifted, 8 July 2016

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Women in the UK Armed Forces
At 1 April each year, %
Role

2003

2008

2013

2018

2023

Officers

10.2

11.3

11.9

11.8

12.4

Other ranks

7.0

7.3

8.0

8.8

9.8

All

7.4

7.8

8.5

9.3

10.2

Officers

7.8

9.4

9.9

11.1

12.9

Other ranks

9.1

9.6

8.8

8.9

10.0

All

8.9

9.5

9.0

9.4

10.6

Officers

11.6

14.7

16.4

16.9

18.9

Other ranks

11.0

12.7

13.2

13.3

14.6

All

11.1

13.2

13.9

14.1

15.6

Officers

10.1

11.9

12.6

13.1

14.4

Other ranks

8.4

8.9

9.2

9.8

10.9

All

8.7

9.4

9.8

10.4

11.5

Army

Naval Service

RAF

Overall

Source: Defence Analytical Services and Advice, UK Armed Forces Quarterly Personnel Report(archived); Ministry of Defence, UK armed forces biannual diversity statistics: April 2023, Table 1

There was a higher representation of women among officer ranks (14.4%)
than in other ranks of the armed forces (10.9%). However, within officer
ranks, women were underrepresented in the most senior roles. In April 2023,
there were 31 women holding senior officer positions (rank OF-6 and above),making up 6.7% of senior officers.
The independent Service Complaints Ombudsman investigates complaints
from armed forces personnel about matters such as career development;
bullying, harassment and discrimination; and pay.
Figures published by the Ombudsman show that in 2022, women were twice
as likely to make a complaint than their male counterparts. 21% ofcomplaints were made by women, despite women representing around 11% ofservice personnel. These complaints were disproportionately raised inrelation to bullying, harassment and discrimination. 50

5034Service Complaints Ombudsman, Annual Statistical Tables 2022 – Service Complaints, tables 2.2
and 2.3

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Women in politics and public life

6.5

Women in the NHS
As of September 2023, more than three quarters (76%) of the workforce in
National Health Service Trusts and Care Boards in England were women. The
chart below shows this data for selected staff groups.

Women in the NHS
Proportion of female staff (headcount), September 2023
Midwives

99.6%

Nurses & health visitors

88.2%

Scientific, therapeutic & technical77.1%

Support staff

76.1%

ALL HOSPITAL STAFF

76.0%

Managers & senior managers

61.0%

GPs

57.3%

Ambulance staff

47.9%

Hospital doctors

47.1%

Source: NHS Digital, NHS workforce statistics, September 2023, Equality and diversity in NHS
Trusts and core org tables; NHS Digital, General Practice Workforce

In some roles, nearly all workers are women: over 99.5% of midwives were
women each year between 2011 and 2023. Most nurses and health visitors arealso women (88.2%). The proportion is lower for hospital doctors (47.1%),
and lower still for consultants (40.0%). The proportion of hospital doctors,
consultants and ambulance staff who are women has slightly increased since2011. Women also make up over half of GPs, 57.3% in 2023, a six percentagepoint increase from 2015.
While women make up 60.9% of NHS manager roles overall, the proportion of
female senior managers is lower (58.5%).
Research by the University of Exeter 51 shows that women are not equally
represented in senior NHS roles. Women held 44.7% of executive and nonexecutive leadership roles across NHS trusts in 2020, which was up by nearlyfive percentage points since 2017.

51

35

R Sealy et al, Action on Equality, Women on NHS boards, September 2020

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Women in politics and public life

6.6

Women in Education
Schools
As of November 2022, women made up the majority (76%) of teachers instate-funded schools in England. The size of this majority varies by type ofschool. In 2022, 86% of state-funded nursery and primary teachers were
women, 65% of secondary school teachers were women, and 75% of nonmainstream schoolteachers were women.52
The chart below shows the proportion of women at different grades ofteaching staff for nursery and primary schools and secondary schools.
Nursery and primary school female teachers

Secondary school female teachers% headcount, state-funded schools, 2022-23% headcount, state-funded schools, 2022-23
100%

100%

80%

81%

83%

87%
80%

74%

66%
60%

60%

40%

40%

20%

20%

57%
50%
42%

0%

0%
Head teacher

Deputy head Assistant headClassroom
teacher

Head teacher Deputy head Assistant headClassroom
teacher

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England: 2022, 8 June 2023

Since 2011 the proportion of female teachers at all grades has generally
followed a slightly upward trend. 53 The exception is nursery and primaryclassroom teachers: the percentage of women in these roles has fallen from
89% in 2011, to 87% in 2022 (albeit from a high base). 54
Female teachers are less likely than their male counterparts to be inleadership positions (head teachers, deputy heads, assistant heads),
however this difference is reducing over time. In 2022/23, 69% of leadershipteachers were female, up from 66% in 2010/11. This compares to 77% ofclassroom teachers in 2022/23 and 76% in 2010/11. Women occupy a lower
proportion of senior roles at nursery and primary schools and secondary
schools. In 2022, women made up 66% of classroom teachers in secondary
schools, but only 50% of deputy head teachers, and 41% of head teachers. In
nursery and primary schools, the gap was narrower, and women made up

52
53
54

36

Non-mainstream schools include state-funded special schools and pupil referral units.
Classroom teachers, assistant head teachers, deputy head teachers, and head teachers.
Headcount basis, Department for Education, School workforce in England: 2021, 9 June 2022

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Women in politics and public life

87% of classroom teachers, but 81% of deputy head teachers and 73% ofhead teachers. 55

Independent schools
The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a member association that
represents independent schools in the UK and some schools outside the UK.
The ISC annual survey found that in January 2022 around 63% of teachers
working in their UK-based member schools were women (full-time equivalentbasis). 56
Not all UK independent schools are members of the ISC and so these figures
should be treated as a rough guide for the independent sector.

Higher education
Women remain underrepresented in higher education teaching, although
there has been a substantial since improvement over the past two decades
across different academic roles.
Compared with 1994/95, the proportion of female staff was higher at all
grades in 2007/08 (see the chart below), and by a substantial margin in somecases; for example, the proportion of female professors rose from 7% to 19%.
The biggest increase, of 19 percentage points, was among senior lecturers
and researchers, of whom 35.3% were female by 2007/08. Among the morejunior positions, female staff continued to be less well represented in teaching
staff at university level than at secondary and particularly primary andnursery levels.
New definitions of staff were introduced in 2008/09 so only the data on
professors can be compared before and after this year. The percentage ofprofessors who were female has increased gradually over time. In 2022/23
female staff made up just over 30% of full-time professors, 44% of all fulltime academic staff and 57% of part-time academics. 57

Headcount basis, Department for Education, School workforce in England: 2022, 8 June 2023
“Full time equivalent” measures the number of teachers working, but adjusted for whether theywork part-time or full-time. Independent Schools Council, Annual Census 2022, 6 May 2022 (p21)

55

56

57

37

HESA, Academic staff (excluding atypical) by employment conditions 2018/19 to 2022/23

Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

Female full-time academic staff by grade% of all staff at that grade, UK higher education institutions
Lecturer
Researcher

40

Senior lecturer
and researcher

30

Professor

20

10

0
1994/95

1998/99

2002/03

2006/072010/11

2014/152018/192022/23

Source: HESA, Academic staff (excluding atypical) by employment conditions 2018/19 to 2022/23 (andearlier)

Although the proportion of female staff in higher education has increased
since 1994/95, there are variations between different academic disciplines.
The chart below shows that in 2022/23 just over 60% of academics ineducation and medicine, dentistry and health were female compared with
only 22% of academics in engineering and technology.

Percentage of female academic staff by subject
All modes of employment 2022/23
Engineering & technology
Science & maths
Architecture & planning
Admin. & business
Arts & design
Social studies
Humanities & languages
Agriculture & veterinary science
Education
Medicine, dentistry & health
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Source: Higher education staff data: What areas do they work in?

According to research on the gender pay gap among university Vice
Chancellors, around 6% of Vice Chancellors in 1995 were female. The authors
created a dataset of 115 UK universities (in existence since 2000) for their

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Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

Women in politics and public life

research, which showed that 11% of these universities had female Vice
Chancellors in 2000, rising to 20% in 2010 and 24% in 2019. 58

6.7

Women in the police
As of 31 March 2023, 35% of police officers in England and Wales were female.
The table below gives figures for 2003 to 2023, showing that the proportion of
female police officers has steadily increased from 19% to 35% over the past
20 years.

Female police officers
England & Wales, as at 31st March
FemaleYear

Total Strength

Number% of total

2003

132,509

25,13919.0

2004

138,468

27,92520.2

2005

141,059

29,94021.2

2006

141,523

31,52022.3

2007

151,892

33,11721.8

2008

141,859

34,33224.2

2009143,770

36,12125.1

2010

143,734

36,99825.7

2011

139,11036,532

26.3

2012134,101

35,96226.8

2013

129,956

35,47127.3

2014

127,90935,65327.9

2015

126,818

35,73828.2

2016

124,066

35,49828.6

2017123,142

35,84429.1

2018

122,404

36,41729.8

2019123,171

37,42830.4

2020

129,11040,31931.2

2021

135,301

43,762

32.3

2022

140,228

46,95933.5

2023

147,430

51,21034.7

Note: Excludes British Transport Police and officers seconded out, includes officers seconded in andthose on maternity/paternity leave and career breaks
Source: Police workforce statistics, England and Wales, 31 March, various years

58

39

Ray Bachan, Alex Bryson, “The Gender Wage Gap Among University Vice Chancellors in the UK”[online via ScienceDirect], Labour Economics, Volume 78, 2022.

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Women in politics and public life

While 37% of constables in England and Wales were women on 31 March 2023,
the proportion of female officers in more senior ranks was lower. Only 29% ofofficers ranked chief inspector or higher were women, although this has
increased from 14% in 2010.
Figures were similar for Scotland’s Police Force; at the end of March 2022,
33% of police officers were women, including 28% of officers ranked sergeantand above. 59 As of 1 March 2024, female representation in the Police Service ofNorthern Ireland was 32%. 60
All police forces except the City of London and Metropolitan Police Services
are led by Chief Constables. The first female Chief Constable in England andWales was Pauline Clare, who was appointed to Lancashire police force inJune 1995. As of January 2023, there were 19 female chief constables in theUK, out of 44 police forces. 61 This is a record number. 62
As of February 2023, there are 10 female Police and Crime Commissioners in
England and Wales. In the most recent elections (May 2021), 22% of
candidates were women, an increase of 7 percentage points from the 2016
elections, and 8 were elected (21%). 63
Some police forces do not have Police and Crime Commissioners, so thefunction is fulfilled through other roles. Five of these posts are held by are
women:
•

•
•
•
•

59

60
61

62

63

40

Sophie Linden, the Deputy Mayor for Crime and Policing in the
Metropolitan Police Service, appointed to act on behalf of the Mayorof London
Kate Green, the Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justiceand Fire for Greater Manchester
Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire
Angela McLaren, the Commissioner of the City of London police
force
Naomi Long, the Minister for Justice for Northern Ireland,
responsible for the Police Service of Northern Ireland

Scotland Police, Equality and Diversity Mainstreaming and Outcomes Progress report 2021/22 (PDF),
Chapter 1
Police Service of Northern Ireland, Workforce Composition Statistics, updated 1 March 2024
House of Commons Library calculations. This includes 41 territorial forces in England and Wales, theBritish Transport Police, Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Record 40 per cent of chief constables are now women amid anti-misogyny drive, Telegraph July
2021
House of Commons Library, PCC Elections 2021, May 2021

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Women in politics and public life

7

Firsts for women in UK public life

There have been various firsts for women in public life over the last 100 plus
years: 64
1913:

First Professor (Caroline Spurgeon)

1939: First Black woman to join the UK Armed Forces (Lilian Bader)
1943: First President of the Trades Union Congress (Anne Loughlin)
1945: First Prison Governor (Charity Taylor)
1945: First stipendiary magistrate (Sybill Campbell)
1948: First university Vice Chancellor (Prof Lillian Penson)
1949: First King’s Counsel (Rose Heilbron and Helena Normanton)
1955: First Civil Service Permanent Secretary (Dame Evelyn Sharp)
1965: First High Court Judge (Dame Elizabeth Lane)
1973: First Head of Mission in the British Diplomatic Service (Eleanor Emery)
1973: First director of a national museum (the Science Museum, Dame
Margaret Weston)
1984: First General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (Brenda Dean)
1987: First Court of Appeal Judge (Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss)
1991: First Head of MI5 (Stella Rimington)
1994: First Church of England priest ordained (Angela Berners-Wilson)
1995: First Police Chief Constable (Pauline Clare)
2004: First Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (Dame Brenda Hale)
2005: First National Statistician & Registrar General for England & Wales(Karen Dunnell)
2006: First disabled, female commissioner of the European Human Rights
Commission (Baroness Campbell of Surbiton)
2009: First EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy(Baroness Ashton)
2009: First Poet Laureate (Carol Ann Duffy)
2011:

41

First Chief Medical Officer for England (Professor Dame Sally Davies)

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Women in politics and public life

2011:

First Royal Navy Warship Commander (Lieutenant Commander SarahWest)

2013: First Royal Air Force Air Vice-Marshal (Elaine West)2013: First woman from a minority ethnic group to be Permanent Secretary
at the Treasury (Sharon White)
2014: First Dean of Norwich (Canon Jane Barbara Hedges)
2014: First Master of the Queens Music (Judith Weir)
2015: First Church of England Bishop (The Right Reverend Libby Lane)
2016: First Chief Fire Officer (Rebecca Bryant)
2017: First Metropolitan Police Commissioner (Cressida Dick)
2017: First President of Supreme Court (Baroness Hale of Richmond)
2021: First Command the British Army at 2 star level (Major General Sharon
Nesmith)2023: First Lady Chief Justice (Dame Sue Carr)64

Sources: COI Women in Britain 2nd edition 1996, Women In Diplomacy: The FCO, 1782-1999 Women’s
History Timeline BBC Radio 4, Major General Sharon Nesmith on seeing around barriers Global
Defence Technology, Centre for Advancement of Gender in Politics, Queens University Belfast.

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Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 March 2024

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